"Galactus is coming..."
Marvels is a podcast created by Marvel and the podcast company Stitcher, written by Lauren Shippen (The Bright Sessions, The AM Archives) and directed by Paul Bae (The Big Loop).Adapted from the graphic novel of the same name by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross, the podcast mainly covers The Coming of Galactus chapter and expands on the 1960s parts of the story. In the podcast story, the Fantastic Four say the invasion was a hoax, damaging the public trust in the team. When Phil Sheldon's young protege, aspiring photographer Marcia Hardesty, finds evidence that possibly proves Richards was lying, the two of them and Ben Urich, all of whom somehow suffered in the riots that ensued when Galactus arrived, re-examine the event to uncover the truth.
The podcast stars Seth Barrish as Phil Sheldon, AnnaSophia Robb as Marcia Hardesty and Method Man as Ben Urich, with Ethan Peck as Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic. It also features appearances by Spider-Man, The Silver Surfer, mutants and Uatu the Watcher.
The first season was released in the fall of 2019 as a Stitcher exclusive and was released to other podcast platforms in 2020.
Tropes
- Adaptation Expansion: In the comic, the whole "Galactus was a hoax" thing was limited to just a few panels on one page with some follow-up later when Galactus was confirmed to be real. Here, it's the central mystery driving the plot.
- Adaptational Villainy: In the comics, Senator Byrd is a minor antagonist to Iron Man, though he grudgingly comes to respect Tony Stark eventually. Here, he is one of the people actively trying to turn people against mutants and turns out to be some kind of shapeshifter who kills his secretary when she finds out.
- Ascended Extra: In the Marvels comic, Marcia Hardesty is a minor character who only appears in a few panels. In the podcast, she is one of the main characters.
- Eldritch Abomination: Galactus is played this way in the podcast with his booming voice, alien language and destructive power, despite being described as still looking like he does in the comic with his human appearance and the big "G" on his chest.
- Even Evil Has Standards: The Silver Surfer assures Phil, Ben, Marcia and Charlie that Galactus won't return to Earth because he gave them his word that he wouldn't, and he has never known him not to honor it.
- Foregone Conclusion: Anyone familiar with the comics will know that Galactus was real and the "hoax" story is a lie, but there's still a mystery of why the Fantastic Four would say it was a hoax.
- Heroism Won't Pay the Bills:
- When it's suggested that Reed Richards staged the Galactus invasion to get more funding and government contracts for his work, he admits that saving the world doesn't pay the bills, but doesn't admit to the theory.
- Implied with Peter Parker, who explains that he sells pictures of Spider-Man to a newspaper that demonizes him to help pay his Aunt May's bills.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: The Fantastic Four have, unsurprisingly, come under a lot of suspicion after the Galactus incident. Phil also references his experiences with the X-Men when they first appeared and the fear of humans that they faced.
- Humanity Is Infectious: After being tended to by Ben Grimm's girlfriend, Alicia Masters, The Silver Surfer came to see humanity in a better light and joined the Fantastic Four in fighting off Galactus. With his mind restored and able to speak any human language, he flies off to explore the world.
- Intrepid Reporter: Marcia, despite being an aspiring newspaper photographer, is the one who first uncovers evidence that Galactus might have been real and the one who inspires Phil and Ben to join her.
- Mad Oracle: The homeless man who keeps appearing throughout the story has some kind of prescient ability, despite talking incoherently. The last episode reveals that he is a mutant and that it's his power.
- Non-Answer: Throughout Reed Richards' conversation with Phil and Ben, they try to get a straight answer to the question of whether or not Galactus was real. He keeps talking around it, admitting that he has the resources to create an illusion like that if he wanted to, but also pointing out other, better ways he could have done it than how the event unfolded, and talks about his family's situation, with the otherwordly threats they handle while having to deal with suspicion and distrust on Earth, but never gives a clear answer.
- Not That Kind of Doctor: Reed Richards' response when Ben Urich asks why he didn't check more on Johnny when he was injured during the fight with the Silver Surfer.
- One-Steve Limit: The story features both Ben Grimm and Ben Urich, though whenever their first names are used, it's in context in which it's easy to tell to whom it's referring.
- Plot-Triggering Death: While not technically a trigger, Marcia is at least partially motivated to look into the Galactus incident further because it played a part in the death of her friend/secret fiancée Gary, who was killed by mutant haters at an anti-war protest when they think the great fire in the sky was caused by his pyrokinetic powers.
- Race Lift: Ben Urich here is played by an African-American actor, like in Daredevil (2015), while the character was white in the Marvels comic and other comic appearances.
- Sequel Hook: Senator Byrd is caught by his secretary in the middle of some physical transformation and kills her to silence her. Also, in an earlier episode, The Silver Surfer warned of another impending invasion, though he didn't know by whom.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Phil and Ben saw different ends of the spectrum during the riots created by the invasion of Galactus. Phil headed home to his family and witnessed looting, everyone thinking of themselves and people praying in desperation, and Ben saw people banding together, helping each other and store owners handing out supplies for free to the needy.
- Super-Soldier: Despite trying to turn people against mutants and the Fantastic Four, Senator Byrd is proposing a special draft to service in the Vietnam War for mutants.
- Teen Genius: Charlie Martinez, who is already a talented inventor despite only being in her teens.
- This Is Reality: J. Jonah Jameson's skepticism about Galactus:"But what kind of all-powerful being calls himself 'Galactus', and wears a big purple 'G' on his chest? It's preposterous!"
- Time-Delayed Death: In the chaos on the ground during the Galactus invasion, Ben comes across an older Polish Jewish woman, Esther, and helps her get out from under a knocked-over lamp post. Unfortunately, she gets increasingly tired as they walk together and later dies of the internal bleeding after getting to a hospital.
- Wham Line: From the end of Episode 1, revealing that the invasion of Galactus is seen as a fraud:Phil: Of course, we know the truth now, that it wasn't the end of the world, all that chaos and destruction. It wasn't even real. None of it was real.
